In July 2018, Harrison Ford and Dan Stevens were cast in the film, with Ford set to star as John Thornton, who goes on the hunt for gold. The film would get heavy special effects work from its studio Technoprops, now called Fox VFX Lab.[5][6] In August 2018, Colin Woodell joined the cast.[7] In September, Omar Sy and Karen Gillan were added to the cast.[8][9] In October, Bradley Whitford joined the cast,[10] with Cara Gee joining in November.[11]